Elusive radio programme

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
Yesterday my wife, my eldest daughter, and myself, went to Brighton university, with access to archive Radio Times magazines. we were allowed only a ninety minute slot.
At the university every single Radio times from 1955-1990 is stored, i believe donated by a collector.
We had a mamonth task as the actual broadcast date was not known , but it had to be from April 1971- july 1975, as this was the time that we resided in the house i heard it in.
Because of this we had to view several hundred editions, and because of the strict time frame, only had time to look at the pages leading up to the first day of programmes section.
Unfortunately this drew a blank, however each edition had a couple of pages at the rear of the programme with news sections, and these were not checked. also of course the weekday radio sections were not checked, there simply was not time.
But at least i now know where i can research , and even if it takes me several more visits , the article will now eventually be found, nothing will prevent it , for it is amongst those copies for sure..
Regards Richard.

[babybird67]

good luck in finding it Richard

I am sure you will find it eventually.

[Bob Hinton]

Research

Good luck with your quest!

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
Thanks Jenny, and Bob, at least i got off my backside , and made a effort, which i am ashamed to say , I am guilty of not doing so in the past.
The frustration was immense, but so was that bloody heat, i felt quite ill after.
Regards Richard.

[Robert]

Richard, do you know the name of this programme?

[Suzi]

Good Luck Richard...not a job for this weather though...the damned heat and the flies!!!

Suz x

[Robert]

You think Richard's got problems? What about Michael Jackson?

[richardnunweek]

Hi Robert.
Its a long time ago , but judging by the number of victorian murder cases i came across whilst searching yesterday that were aired on Radio 4, it would be a good bet that it was that wavelength, and as i far as i can recollect it was headlined'The man that saw jack', and as it was not in the front section of any edition for the period I searched, it had to be in the end of a copy, but as I mentioned we only had a ninety minute slot.
Regards Richard.

[Sam Flynn]

Richard,

It might be a good idea to check editions of the Radio Times coinciding with the dates of the canonical murders, at least initially, then widening the search to Sept/Oct/Nov editions, before going any further.

[richardnunweek]

Hi Sam.
Makes good sense to me, its so frustrating that one can remember a programme so well, and not remember the year, except 1971-july 75.
My plan was for the three of us to search the early pages of each edition, which we did, but time ran out, and to be honest the heat was just to much, that Brighton University is a heat trap, and it was all up hill to the car.
Regards Richard.

[David Knott]

Hi Richard,

I have searched some copies of the Radio Times at the British Newspaper Library in Colindale, but the only entry I found was 25 May 1972 edition relating to the already identified and discounted Radio 4 broadcast.

Can you remember anything about the article, eg where it was in the magazine, were there any photos etc?

Thanks
David

[richardnunweek]

Hi David,
I searched [ we searched] every magazine from april 71-july 75, but as explained we only had a 90 min slot in a very busy university liberary.
The only way to find this broadcast is to search once again , but the rear pages[ front searched], and if that fails the radio programmes [ tuesday is in my mind] i can assure anyone who visits Brighton University, after pre booking, that the programme is 100 per-cent there somewhere, as every single Radio times is there for the relevant period.
But one needs time , and extreme patience, and much cooler conditions, to be successful.
Regards Richard.

[Bob Hinton]

Ah but.........

That Richard old chap is what research is. Weeks, sometimes months ploughing through acres of records in the hope of finding something.

When my first book came out I was interviewed on Radio Wales and I was asked about research, the interviewer likened it to doing a jigsaw.

I replied 'Not quite. When you do a jigsaw you know what the finished picture looks like and you know all the pieces are in the box somewhere. Research is having a great big box of pieces, all of them white and you're not even sure all the pieces are present'

[Brenda]

Hi David,
I searched [ we searched] every magazine from april 71-july 75, but as explained we only had a 90 min slot in a very busy university liberary.
The only way to find this broadcast is to search once again , but the rear pages[ front searched], and if that fails the radio programmes [ tuesday is in my mind] i can assure anyone who visits Brighton University, after pre booking, that the programme is 100 per-cent there somewhere, as every single Radio times is there for the relevant period.
But one needs time , and extreme patience, and much cooler conditions, to be successful.
Regards Richard.

You can do it! More than anything, I hope you find that advertisement.
Why is there a 90 minute limit on viewing the material?

[richardnunweek]

Hi Brenda,
Thanks for the encouragement, the ninety minute slot was obviously down to University rules for visitors, i believe originally they offered us 30min/ one hour/ or 90 min, we obviously chose the latter, trying to get access to those Radio Times was extremely red tape, forms galore.
But I feel obliged to trace that edition, even if no oral tape appears to exist, simply because the title'The man that saw Jack', I hope will add some value to my age long ramblings on Reg being on radio, as part of that broadcast.
Regards Richard.